Sorry about the delay in responding! I didn't do a six week plan because for me I know I can't be on a diet every day for six weeks. I'm sure it is a great plan, and healthy too, but I couldn't sign up to it myself. The six day plan is body-type based, and my body type's plan consisted of the following: Breakfast - 3 oz lean protein (egg whites, fish, chix or turkey breast, etc); 1/2 cup berries or 1/2 grapefruit Lunch & Dinner - 2 oz lean protein; 1/2 cup cooked brown rice; 1-2 cups vegetables (must be low-starch, the book has a specific list, but I would severely limit starchy vegetables. I did like to add a small spoonful of corn to dishes for flair, and it still worked fine. 2 snacks - 3 oz lean protein; 1/2 cups greens Nighttime snack (if needed) - 1 cup berries or 1 grapefruit I'm not going to sugar coat it - I was hungry. George Thurmond says you won't be hungry, but I was, quite often. I dealt with it by deciding to do the diet Monday thru Friday, just heap it on the M-F grind, and then on the weekend I would be able to live it up. Boy did I look forward to the weekend! Well following were my methods: For breakfast I usually ate smoked salmon - I make my own, so it's not so high in sodium and chemicals. My husband, serendipitously, had just bought me a Zojirushi rice cooker that had a brown rice setting, and this proved indispensable. I got creative with my combinations of vegetables, rice, and protein - fried rice, ceviche & rice, grilled vegetables, etc etc - I spent a good chunk of time cooking and prepping my meals. As for the snacks, they were primarily green salad with chicken and balsamic vinegar. I work full time, and there were days in which I did not think I could just whip out a salad at snack time, so I would bring cucumber sticks and broccoli stalks, and sneak a few grape tomatoes in there. It was much easier to manage. It was quite inconvenient and I was hungry often, but I was willing to do all this as long as I was losing weight. I would lose almost a pound a day. I would put on a few on the weekends, but I netted 1-2 pounds a week. This carried on for many weeks until I had lost about eighteen pounds, then the weight stopped coming off as fast and I switched to another plan. But it was an excellent jump start for me! I was so food addicted that I could not go from that to "lifestyle change" in one day, so I think I needed this type of regimen. After I lost 30 pounds I told my doctor how I did it, and she said it was not a good way to do it because of the swing from diet to feast every week. I wished she would have listened instead of just comparing me to the "textbook" because after several years this was the only method that worked for me. As my weight loss progressed my balance increased, and I am much better now, but not done. Now I am 7 pounds from my goal, and I will get in a groove and eat intuitively and have good results (I mean maybe a pound in a week or less) without hunger, but then I get a little out of balance, maybe pack on a couple, then go back on a diet. One more thing - I've found for me to lose weight I can't be afraid of a few hunger pangs. When I am successfully eating intuitively, I am usually a little hungry, but in a weird way it's not unpleasant. Maybe I went a little far with it, but like I said I am still seeking my balance. Woman's world had a good article on it -- basically you wait until you are quite hungry to eat (not the first hunger pang), eat slow in order to feel the fullness response, and stop at a certain level of fullness. To maintain my weight for the long term this is my ultimate goal, but sometimes my husband wants to go out for Polish food and mmmmm, it's hard not to finish that plate of cheese pirogies.... Take care!

Correction, I saw a dietician not a nutritionist. Mitch - Thank you for the article. Oakley - I was hoping you'd weigh in. I was surprised when she told me to basically keep it the same. I figured the numbers she gave were for pregnant women. Rose - "So maybe just eating the right amount of carbs is not enough sometimes. It is just as important as to what kind of carbs you are feeding your body." I completely agree. I saw your other thread about your DH's food intolerances. I hope you're able to find some recipes. I think that would be very challenging. Dlm - Thanks for the feedback. I was hoping there would be people here that could give me some numbers for comparison. Annie - I agree with what you wrote. I don't always eat fat, protein, and carb at every meal though. Snacks too? Thanks for the info. Tina - I've been trying to eat more fiber. Made some beans today for the first time not in a can (don't laugh people). I need to look up more bean recipes. Tishtoshnm - Yeah, after I posted this I thought more about how not everyone is the same and it's going to vary. Thanks for the feedback about your 11 yo's situation. I know this isn't rocket science but the g.s. was a hard smack in the face so I wanted to see what others had to say on the topic. I tend to overthink and make things harder than they need to be at times. A few years back Bumble recommended the book Deep Nutrition. (BTW, thank you Bumble.) I enjoyed this book very much. I dug it out today and am going to read it again. I'm going to continue eating 5-6 meals a day and space my carbs out. I'm not going to eat as many as I was originally instructed. I still have some weight to lose and that's a priority.

Absolutely! A specific diet is not necessary to lose weight. The best and easiest way for most people is to limit portion sizes and reduce or eliminate snacking on empty calories of refined sugars in cookies, pie, cake, and white bread. And exercise is an essential part of the equation if you really want long-term, successful weight loss. However, rather than "counting" calories I think it is easier to eliminate empty calories such as sweets with refined sugars and limit portion sizes. For example, a serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards, not just one big steak. :-) Also, be sure to eat enough calories with small snacks in between main meals. Eating smaller amounts throughout the day maintains the metabolism. Jen

Some years ago when I began doing some physical work (and not a large amount, at that) my food intake increased substantially, right away. Now that I spend quite a lot of time sitting on my ass - that ass seems to grow, some. And I seldom eat in restaurants. I thought that I was fairly trim (not much overhang over the belt) ... until I did a couple of evaluations a year or so ago ... both of them saying that I was overweight, getting close to *obese*! Oh, Lord ... what next! But I don't do on short-term, crash diets. Try to re-arrange my diet less drastically, aiming at long-term re-arrangement on an ongoing basis. Best wishes for keeping that slim profile that you so desire. ole joyful